Stranger Things season 5 star reveals how volume 2 creates “existential” crisis for Eleven

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5 volume 2.

Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 has left sisters Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) in an impossible situation, forced to grapple with the idea of sacrificing themselves for the greater good.

The new instalment of Netflix's sci-fi hit saw returning Kali discover that Dr Brenner's (Matthew Modine) programme has been restarted by Dr Kay (Linda Hamilton) who will stop at nothing in her hunt for the sisters.

After realising that the cycle will just continue as long as the pair of them are alive, the end of volume 2 sees Kali tell Eleven that the pair of them must sacrifice themselves and that, when the Upside Down disappears, they must go with it.

Asked where this leaves the sisters as we head into the finale, Kali actress Berthelsen exclusively told RadioTimes.com: "I think it creates a really interesting dynamic within Eleven and very existential questions about what is the right thing to do.

"And what's really brilliant for Kali for this season is that, I think it's very valid what she's trying to say. Like, if we do this, not only is it going to benefit your friends, but it's actually going to benefit the rest of the world. There is a point to be made.

"It's a very human question. Like, what do you do in those moments? What are you willing to sacrifice? It's an internal battle, I think, within Eleven. Can you leave everything that you've built, the relationships, the people in your life to go and do what may be right?"

Eleven and Kali are coming to that conversation from very different places, with Berthelsen adding: "There is a difference between Eleven's relationship to family and just having a mother, because Kali never had a mother, and I feel like there's part of her that's still waiting for those parents to show up.

"I think for me, that was a huge part of what's underneath, especially in episode 5, as an orphan, so to speak, is she still waiting for those parents to come and save her? And I think that's very specific to the character that makes her different from Eleven. That's just my perspective."

Meanwhile, Berthelsen, of course, worked very closely with Eleven actress Millie Bobby Brown for the new episodes, saying of their relationship: "There is something very natural to the way that we connected, also for season 2. I think we work really well together...There's something very raw, just very natural in the moments that we create together."

Stranger Thing season 5 concludes on New Year's Day.

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